FNC Roundtable

Well, time is getting short before we have our meeting on how to have a meeting (does that seem a little odd to anyone else?).

Three items today

• Think about what the different reasons that we hold meetings. Why do we meet? While we talk about how we “hate meetings”, we get together almost instinctively, for lots of reasons. We stop by people’s offices, gather in the halls and huddle around whiteboards. What are those reasons, and how do meetings help us?
  • Figuring things out
  • Coordination
  • Sharing information
  • What else?
• Should the reason for a particular meeting have something to do with how the meeting is conducted (including who holds it, how long, who is invited and so on)?
• Think about all the reasons we hate meetings. What is it about them that gets under our skin?
  • Is is about about “not getting any real work done?”
  • The presentations are too long, too boring, too unfocused?
  • I am not engaged? Why not?
  • I’m afraid not to be there, but know I am not contributing anything (see this example from Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive. You will have to pardon his language. Just substitute “person” for “man”. Peter Drucker: Meeting Example)
  • What else?

While you are working on those three things, I am attaching a very nice slideshow that talks about some very good steps for assuring effective meetings. I think you will find it very helpful. We will use it as part of the outline on Thursday.

It is called Get Out of Jail Free: How to Run Effective Meetings. Right now is a great time to down load it and check it out. (It is really, really short.). The link is below.

Get Out of Jail Free/How to run effective meetings

While you are at it, what better way to start a meeting than with a reference to a Dilbert meeting, like this one:

http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20070711.html